My sister Susan and I attended the Downtown West Palm Beach Art Festival yesterday afternoon, which takes place on Rosemary Avenue at CityPlace. I had no illusions about finding a close-in free parking space, and so headed to the CityPlace Garage, which amazingly had a lot of spaces available, and was probably worth the $12. We walked a short distance to the elevators, exited, and were just a few steps from the festival. Susan has a difficult time walking more than a short distance, and so I left her sitting in a shady spot by the interactive children's fountain and started viewing the art. After I took my first photograph of the festival that included an almost cartoon-like portrait, the artist told me no photographs, although he did not demand that I delete the one I took. In truth, I thought it was pretty ugly, and it didn't make the cut, even for the purpose of ridiculing it. I did not mention that to the artist, however.
The festival had a lot of photography on display, although nothing really stood out for me. There were digitally manipulated photos, photographs of marine life with an underwater camera, and various tropical scenes. I much prefer the more artsy photographs of people and places from across the country and the world that you see at the Cherry Creek Art Festival back in Denver, but it was fun to look at them, anyway. The crowd was a diverse age group, with retirees, families, young people, and true eccentrics, which made it a great place for peoplewatching.
As I have mentioned in a previous blog, CityPlace started out as a mixed-use development with an emphasis on retail, but lost its three top anchors (Macy's, AMC 20 Theaters, and Barnes and Noble), and had to adapt over the years to keep it vibrant, which has involved lots of condos, high-rise office buildings, and upscale restaurants and shops to serve all those people. And it has worked - the area is vibrant and fun and beautifully landscaped. When we first walked out into the main plaza, we passed outdoor tables for II Bellagio, and Susan mentioned something about having lunch there some day. I checked out the lunch menu, which featured entrees priced from $18 to $25, while the dinner menu consisted of pasta items (no meatballs) for around $25, chicken dishes around $30, and steaks at $42. Not for this cheapskate. I didn't bother checking the menu at Sweetgreen, seen in the photograph on the left, which I assume is vegetarian, but I do like the artwork displayed in front of it. It reminds me of a modernist portrait of Mr. Clean. And perhaps it is!
After walking up and down Rosemary Avenue checking out the art, I went back to the plaza with the interactive children's fountain where Susan was sitting (and seen in the lower right-hand corner of the photo) and discovered that the musical entertainment had begun on the stage just to her left. Susan was not taken with the music, but did enjoy sitting there reading and doing a lot of peoplewatching. It was a fun day, and I really enjoyed walking down Rosemary Avenue without the car traffic, looking at the buildings and shops, as well as the people and the art. And if you are in the area, the festival continues today from 10:00 until 5:00. It is definitely worth the $12 parking fee at the Hibiscus Garage, and this is a cheapskate talking.
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